More than 40 bands are on the busy lineup, including headliners Ween, who perform on the Long Beach stage at 8:20 p.m. Sept. 30 and Sleater-Kinney, who close it out on the same stage at 8:40 p.m. Oct. 1.

As the bands rock on the two stages, more than a dozen star chefs from Long Beach and New Orleans will serve some of their best dishes in the “Taste Tent” under the theme of “Port-to-Port,” starting at noon each day.

It”s going to be a lot of food and menus are still being finalized, but to help you figure out where to fill your belly as the music rocks your world, get to know ten of the top chefs cooking at MTG.

Long Beach Chefs

Chef Luis Navarro

Restaurant: Lola’s Mexican Cuisine

Cuisine: Mexican

Favorite band playing at MTG: Dr. Octagon

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

Los Lobos pairs best with our food. Being from LA, rock and roll flavor blended with Mexican heritage and roots, they speak my language, my California culture blended with Mexican flavor. My food expresses the same tone and Los Lobos are perfect for Lola’s.

Why do you love being a chef?

I love being a chef because I am able to create food experience pegged with the industry challenges and all of the ups and downs that come along with it. At the end of the day, watching someone enjoy your food and satisfying that customer is a happy, humbling feeling. That is what it’s all about at the end of the day.

Chef Philip Pretty

Digable Planets, because they have their own sound and realm of creativity, just like I do!

Why do you love being a chef?

I love cooking, because it provides instant gratification when you see someone smile because of the food you’ve just made for them.

Chef Wes Lieberher

Restaurant: Beer Belly

Cuisine: New American comfort food

Favorite band playing at MTG: Digable Planets

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

Digable Planets because I’m cool like that!

Why do you love being a chef?

Food is the key to the soul and I love opening that door for people. Nothing like evoking memories with a great dish.

Chef Arthur Gonzales

Restaurant: Panxa Cocina/Roe

Cuisine: Panxa-Southwester flavors/Roe-fish market and restaurant

Favorite band playing at MTG: Los Lobos, Digable Planets

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

I’m serving mushroom ceviche with hickory seared Baja Kanpachi. I feel Los Lobos would pair up best with my dish because of their Spanish influence.

Why do you love being a chef?

I heard a saying once: “Do what you love, and never work a day in your life.” I love cooking and making people feel special; it allows me to be creative and work with some of the best ingredients in the world.

Chef Gus Sverkos

Restaurant: Kafe Neo

Cuisine: Greek

Favorite band playing at MTG: Dengue Fever

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

Hot 8 Brass band: Eating Greek is enjoyed in groups – or what we call “parea” – and the band reminds me of family, plus the music would match perfectly along roasting a lamb on the spit outside under the sun.

Why do you love being a chef?

Seeing people enjoy themselves and having a good time through food that you cooked is very satisfying.

New Orleans Chefs

Chef Alfredo Nogueira

Restaurant: Cure Co.

Cuisine: Caribbean/Cuban

Favorite band playing MTG: Ride

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

Ride. Their music is understated and epic at the same time. Beauty in simplicity. Occasionally dramatic. All terms I would use to describe my style as well.

Why do you love being a chef?

Every day is exciting with new challenges. I like that it uses both sides of my brain. You obviously need to be creative, but there are a lot of other administrative things that you need to have a good handle on in order to do your job well.

Chef Kelly Fields

Restaurant: Willa Jean

Cuisine: The south meets bakery

Favorite band playing at MTG: Sleater-Kinney

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

Sleater-Kinney, not just because they’re my favorite band in the world, but because they’re timeless without being dated or cliche; they’re in constant motion, growing, evolving and contributing in new ways, which I try to do on every level in my own life (professionally and personally). They’re incredibly committed and unapologetic to putting themselves forward fully, and seeing them live makes me feel alive and inspired. I hope that is the same message I send through the experience of my restaurant.

Why do you love being a chef?

This profession is so much a part of who you are, it’s hard to talk about it without any real basis of comparison, honestly. I love everything about it, mostly I love that it is exactly who I am. I love that this industry has allowed me to travel the world as a student of foods, flavors, rituals and cultures. I love that I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by such great folks, who have and continue to push me to be better and do better. I love that I now get to be a mentor and leader, to help others realize their own potential and dreams. What’s not to love?

Chef Melissa M. Martin

Restaurant: Mosquito Supper Club

Cuisine: Cajun

Favorite band playing at MTG: Juana Molina

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

Juana Molina’s music is intentional and reflexive. It draws from the past and is still rooted in the present and future of music and art. I truly believe in communication without verbal language. I think Molina bares herself through her music and expression. I hope I am communicating a story of sustainability, history and tradition through my food while staying true to what I believe in. By staying rooted in sustainability we are radical. By cooking we are communicating. There is a reason I get chills when I cook my grandmother’s Oyster Soup perfectly, there is alchemy and it is apparent Molina gets this.

Why do you love being a chef?

I like bringing together ingredients and curating them all the way to the dinner table. I like bringing different people together at a table to dine, share and laugh, to put away our technology and move to the important things in life like breaking bread, sustainability, history and tradition.

Chef Michael Gulotta

Restaurant: Maypop

Cuisine: Southeast Asian meets Southeast Louisiana

Favorite band playing at Music Tastes Good: Either Hot 8 Brass Band or Ween, I’ve been listening to both of them for a long time.

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

Definitely Hot 8, they are New Orleans born, like me, and play off of a lot of different styles like funk and hip-hop to add some depth to the traditional New Orleans style brass band. I strive to do the same by using the brighter notes of South East Asian cuisine to lighten and brighten the traditional New Orleans fair that I grew up eating.

Why do you love being a chef?

Well, at the end of the day I’ve always loved the alchemical-like changes of raw ingredients into flavorful dishes, that synergy of a well-constructed plate, and even more addictive is then watching the reaction on guests faces when they (hopefully) enjoy said creation.

Chef Todd Pulsinelli

Restaurant: Restaurant August

Cuisine: Seasonal, contemporary French

Favorite band playing Music Tastes Good: Dr. Octagon

What band pairs up best with your food and why?

We source the freshest ingredients we can in our kitchen. Dan the Automator and Kool Keith make the freshest beats and are one of the best ingredients in hip-hop.

Why do you love being a chef?

Being a chef requires constant elevation and learning. For me, it’s an outlet to show creativity while making something that people can enjoy.

Here are the other chefs participating in MTG

Chefs from New Orleans

Collin Cormier from Pops Poboys

Isaac Toups from Toups Meatery

Mason Hereford from Turkey and the Wolf

Chefs from Long Beach

David MacLennan from James Republic

Khanh Hoang from Company of Khanh

Sugar Sungkamee from Spicy Sugar.

MC on both days: Chef Paul Buchanan

Music Tastes Good

When: 11 a.m. Sept. 30-Oct. 1

Where: Marina Green Park, 386 E Shoreline Dr, Long Beach.

Tickets: General admission with Taste Tent access tickets range from $150-$270. General admission for festival starts at $75.

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